Ronin Kaoru Kyoto Arc
by Dragonsdaughter
Summary: Kaoru’s crossed time and space to save Tomoe, but now that Tomoe’s dead what reason does she have to carry on with her life? The answer is right in front of her in the form of a red haired ex-assassin who seems hell bent on killing her... or is he?
1. Chapter I : Lessons in Living

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Ronin Kaoru; Kyoto Arc

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Chapter One; Lessons in Living

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"Forget regret, or life is yours to miss."   
-_Jonathan Larson_

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AU- it's ALIIIIVVVVEEEEE for all you sillies out there that thought I'd finished Ronin Kaoru: you are sooooo wrrrooooooonnnnnnggg. I'm still here and worse than ever! Here's the next bout of insanity!

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Aiden plotted.

As a being without tangible mass, he really didn't bother with niceties such as food, shelter, or clothing. A faded memory of the time when he'd been mortal and plane bound caused him to retain human form and at least the semblance of clothing, but other than that most of his humanity had faded with the centuries.

However, there was a corner of the void between timelines -called the Flux by those who could transverse it and survive- that he tended to go when he desired privacy and time to think. He also kept a few puzzles and board games there for the numerous times when he became bored. If he was pressed then he might tentatively call this place home. 

He came there now to contemplate the problem of the plane bound female that Raven -Aiden's chosen companion- had been filling up her time and energies with.

Normally, Aiden would no more have concerned himself with a plane bound any more than a plane bound would have concerned itself with any particular ant crawling around in the dust at its feet. Millennia had passed since he'd won his way free of the karmic wheel and attained a metaphysical body along with enlightenment.

His darling Raven was something of a younger soul; newly re-born and still obsessed with her past existence. At one time Aiden had indulged this vice of his lover and had believed that she would outgrow it.

Except, what he had once taken for a passing phase was actually a deep difference between them; when Aiden's power was great, it was clumsy and more suited to affecting things on the scale that he himself existed on.

Raven, on the other hand, was powerful as well-- perhaps even more powerful than him, but she was able to focus her attention and energy to an incredible precision.

That talent was most likely what had drawn the Watchers Guild to enlist her in their numbers. The Watchers were the self-appointed monitors of the Timelines, they thought of themselves as Guardians of the Worlds that had spawned them. They were usually young souls freshly enlightened; it was a phase they went through.

However, they had grown in power until the Watcher's Guild was no longer such an amusing pastime.

Where Aiden -were he so inclined- would change the course of a timeline by sinking a continent or detonating a volcano, Raven -as a Watcher- would direct a single plane bound through a few seemingly pointless actions that caused a chain of casualty that involved the entire country.

Of course, when working on a level that exact Raven was usually oblivious to everything around her. Aiden usually took it upon himself to defend his lady at these times, or aid her efforts by stepping back and watching the large picture when she could not.

Yet, never before had Raven allowed her fascination with the Timelines to detract from her time with Aiden. Even when she was figuratively neck deep in alligators, she'd always had time to at least spend a few moments with him just so he wouldn't feel as though he were less important.

As this 'Kaoru' took up more and more of Raven's time, Aiden found himself grappling with emotions he'd forgotten he could feel, for the first time in eons he was feeling things he'd almost forgotten the names to; pain, jealousy, fear of rejection…

It was time to take a hand in things or risk losing all the self-control that had taken him millennia to acquire.

***

Kimonos.

Three solid weeks of kimonos.

'As if I wasn't already depressed.' Kaoru thought acerbically from her banishment on the veranda where she was busily engaged in watching Enishi instruct a certain violet-eyed imp in basic footwork.

"How's this Raiden-oba?!" Yutaro called over to her and executed a series of perfect kata.

* (Oba- suffix meaning Aunt) not to be confused with (obaa-grandmother)

"Good, Yutaro." she called back, forcing some cheer into her voice. "Keep it up!"

Yutaro beamed at her praise and went at his lessons with a vengeance. Enishi glanced away from his student to cast a sympathetic glance at her. When she caught him looking he offered a tentative smile that begged response… however Kaoru couldn't force it. She looked away and clenched her fists in her lap she couldn't see Enishi deflate and turn back to the lesson with slumped shoulders.

Perhaps it was just fate's cruel twist on Kaoru's emotional state, but for someone whose emotional fabric was hanging in tatters, Kaoru had never physically looked better.

Ever since Tomoe's death, Kaoru had not been able to work up enough emotive energy to refuse anything. As a result she now had an entire wardrobe of her own kimonos (courtesy of Yutaro) and also her hair had been cut so it hung down her back meeting her hips. She wasn't sure who'd done that, it had happened in her sleep.

Kaoru hadn't resisted the changes, but she didn't welcome them. Deep inside her, there was a bit of her psyche that liked the person she was but couldn't force the rest of her into action.

'I'll recover soon enough.' Kaoru told herself, even if she didn't feel this was really so.

She was keenly aware of Aoshi's ki even before she heard his stocking feet on the hardwood floor behind her.

"I have started tea in the kitchen," he informed her. "Will you join me in the garden?"

Kaoru blinked up at him, honestly caught off guard. She nodded slowly, which was her response to everything these days. She got up slowly with sore muscles protesting how long she'd gone without exercise. Kaoru made a mental note to tell Megumi to get stuffed next time she protested her morning drill with Kaori.

Aoshi led her through the halls of the dojo. Kaoru walked with her head tilted down and her hands together in front of her thighs-- much the same way she used to walk in her original timeline.

Kaoru's eyes widened and she shivered as an icy finger of dread traced itself down her spine. Was she backsliding?

That was a serious concern, she realized. Comparing the helpless little girl she'd been to the woman she was now, Kaoru realized that she liked being strong and capable.

In fact, looking back on her life before Kenshin, Kaoru had been working hard to _become _the sort of the person she was now.

'I became who I was to save Kenshin pain, but I picked up the sword for myself. I wanted to be better, stronger.' Kaoru lifted up a hand to touch her forehead. 'When did I forget that? When did Kenshin become my entire life? When did I stop wanting this for _me _and start tolerating it for _him_?'

"Kaori has told me that she'll bring the tea when it's ready." Aoshi told her as he leaned against one of the wooden columns supporting the roof over the veranda.

Kaoru walked out to the little pond and looked down into it.

"Aoshi? Have you ever looked back on your life and found that your reasons for doing what you do changed somewhere along the way?" she asked quietly.

"I think that happens to everyone." he replied. "What's wrong? Is it Tomoe?"

Kaoru shook her head, then winced, nodded, and then shook her head again. "Yes… no…" she sighed, "it's complicated."

"Apparently." he observed and then patted the spot beside him. "Tell me about it." he said with just a touch of resignation in his voice.

"Well if it's a burden on you…" Kaoru huffed.

He shook his head. "It is not. If anything I owe you for kitchen time and I sincerely wish to help you through this time in your life."

Kaoru cocked an eyebrow but came to sit down beside him. "This is going to sound incredibly strange."

"What isn't strange about you life?" Aoshi asked facetiously (or as facetiously as he was capable of) but subsided under Kaoru's glare. "You seem to be recovering." he commented.

"Maybe," Kaoru agreed. She clasped her hands in her lap and leaned forward, focusing her attention away from Aoshi. "When I was young… well, _younger_. It is my treasured fantasy that thirty is _not _old." she confided to Aoshi who nodded, having similar illusions as he himself was nearing the dark side of twenty. 

She cleared her throat and started again. "When I was seventeen I met someone," she paused to glare at Aoshi as he rolled his eyes. "It's not like that!" she cried at him and aiming a half-hearted smack at him.

Aoshi ducked it and held up his hands helplessly. "I understand!"

"As I was _saying_," she continued with frown lines wrinkling her brow. "I met a man who made a big impact on my life." she sighed and her brow smoothed out as she considered what to tell Aoshi. "He was involved in the Revolution, same as most people around that time and he was scarred from it."

"Few were left unscarred." Aoshi agreed.

Kaoru touched her scar. "He had a mark on his face just like mine, its sort of ironic. He'd sworn never to kill again, having had a belly full of it as a solder. That sentiment defined his life. He stayed with me for a while… until certain events forced us apart. I… I started this lifestyle after that. He was the reason I became a Ronin, but lately I've been remembering when I first started Kenjutsu simply for the love of it. It just struck me a little while ago… when did I just stop doing it because I loved it? When did I stop pushing myself simply because I wanted this and start doing it because of him?"

Aoshi let that statement hang in the air between them for a while. "That's a good thing to realize," he said finally. "What you need to think about now is which reason is the one that really motivates you to improve. Do you simply want to be a better fighter? Or do you wish to honor this man's memory?"

Kaoru pondered that. "A little of both really. I want to do this for K… him, I mean. Yet, I also want to find the simple joy of it that I once had: Kenjutsu for its own sake rather than morals or ideology. Those play a major part of it, but the simple thrill of the muscles moving under my skin and tendons stretching in my arms is something I'd forgotten."

"There you are then," he said. "You have answered yourself. Now, is this what you need to start living again? Or will you continue on as you have, living in a sort of limbo?"

Kaoru pursed her lips. "I-I still feel guilty about Tomoe's death… I…"

Aoshi let out a long breath and pulled his shoes out of his coat. "Kamiya-san… if you will humor me and go stand over there?" he gestured to the expanse of grass beside the pond and then bent down to put them on.

"Excuse me?" Kaoru blinked at the sudden change in subject, yet stood up just the same and slipped on her sandals, which had been secreted in her sleeve.

"If you would please?" Aoshi pressed and stood up, with his boots now on.

Kaoru shrugged and went to stand in the indicated place.

"Now if you would turn around to face the wall?" he made a turning motion with his finger.

She sighed and turned around. "I really don't see what this has to do with… HEY!" that last was uttered when Aoshi's booted foot delivered a swift kick to her defenseless rear.

Kaoru pitched herself forward, and somersaulted away form Aoshi. She landed on her feet facing him in a jujitsu stance. "What the hell!"

"Bull shit!" Aoshi spat and Kaoru blinked at him.

"What?"

"I said 'Bull-shit!'" he repeated. "And I meant it. Tomoe's death is not your fault!"

"But I…" she started to say, but Aoshi broke her off.

"It was _Tomoe's _business what she did." he said in clear, concise terms. "You were _concussed, _woman! You were doing well to be _standing_! She had a choice to make and she made it, you cannot go faulting yourself for her decisions!"

Kaoru swallowed and took a step back… when she realized what she was doing. One more step and she became a helpless maiden in distress once more, was that what she wanted?

An angry scowl twisted her mouth. "Don't you yell at me, Shinomori!" she shouted back.

A satisfied smirk twisted _his _mouth. "That's better," he said smugly, only to dodge a punch a few moments later.

"I'll do as I please." Kaoru hissed and stalked past him into the house.

She ignored the fact that he was smirking back at her.

***

Roughly ten minutes later, the sound of Megumi shrieking could be heard through out the neighborhood as Kaoru emerged from her bedroom in gi and hakama with her bokken back in place.

"_Kamiya Kaoru! You get back in that kimono! You're in no shape to… Hey! Come back here! Don't you run while I'm yelling at you!"_

Kaoru grinned recklessly as she kept a few steps ahead of the fuming doctor. This was really the way to get exercise, she reflected as she vaulted over the laundry tub where Kaneda was washing clothes.

The young monk threw himself back and then let out a whoop of surprise as he got a look at who had just jumped over him.

The noise drew the attention of Enishi and his students. The three boys simultaneously abandoned their strike practice to and went for the source of the ruckus. With the exception of Shinnosuke, who accidentally walked into one of the porch poles and knocked himself out, they arrived just in time to see Kaoru exit the dojo grounds with Megumi hot on her heels and an unholy grin on her face.

Life, it seemed, was getting back to normal.

***

Megumi lost Kaoru shortly after they left the dojo. Little did she know that the kenshi woman had taken to the rooftops and even now was keeping pace with her from up high.

Kaoru kept a hawk's eye on Megumi's slender, green kimono clad figure. The doctor was fighting her way through a thick crowd with murder in her eyes and her fan in visible. It was doubtful that anyone would mess with her, but Kaoru had the feeling that she should keep an eye out just the same.

Besides, it appealed to her perverse side to be just barely out of sight while Megitsune tore up the city in search of her.

She chuckled at herself; perhaps Megumi's 'Kitsune-ness' was catching.

Down below she noticed a young lad bump into Megumi and receive a rap on the knuckles from her fan when his fingers strayed too near the coin purse hidden in her obi. Kaoru watched as the child slunk back into the crowd with a sour look on his face.

'I wonder why there is such a big difference between him and Yahiko?' she wondered. 'I remember when Yahiko was a pickpocket, he would have known better than to go after someone like Megumi. That was just plain silly. Pick pockets don't survive long if they don't keep their wits about them.'

She squinted after the boy and realized that he looked relatively well fed and clean. In fact he looked just a little too old to be a pickpocket. He looked old enough and strong enough to find honest work if he needed it. When she opened her senses to feel his ki she felt none of the annoyance or even anger he felt after a failed theft. In fact his emotions were almost not there. _Curiouser and curiouser_.

Then the lad… man, she realized, turned his head to look directly at her. He tiled back the broad kasa he was wearing and she caught a glimmer of amber light from under his heavy black bangs. Her blood froze as she saw him vanish into the crowd of people displaying ten times the skill and presence that he'd shown when attempting to rob Megumi.

… Or had he really been trying to rob her and not do something else?

Kaoru shook herself and decided to let the game go. She lit down a fire escape and waited in an alley for Megumi to pass. When she stormed past, Kaoru tugged her into the alley beside her.

The razor sharp tips of the fan were at her throat in an instant, but Kaoru felt no fear. She waited for Megumi to realize who had her and put the fan down.

"Kao-san!" Megumi squeaked and made the fan vanish. Then she frowned. "Got you! We're going back to the dojo now and you're…"

"That boy who just tried to rob you, did you get a good look at his face?" Kaoru asked.

Megumi blinked. "Well, if you could catch him before he lost the bad wig and washed off the face paint." she demurred.

Kaoru blinked. "He was wearing a disguise?"

The doctor nodded. "I didn't get too good of a look, but he looked like a foreigner trying pass as a Japanese. I only noticed because his face paint had missed a spot on his cheek around this bandage he was wearing."

"He must have had a facial injury." Kaoru guessed out loud. "The paint might have gotten into the wound if he let it get on the bandage."… Like that phantom wound Kenshin had acquired during the Bakumatsu, it might have reopened with Tomoe's death.

Kaoru gave herself a mental kick in the butt. 'You're reaching, Tanuki-chan.' she chided herself. 'After ten years the damn thing has to have healed! Besides it's not like Kenshin is the only person in all of Japan with a fresh facial wound'

"That's what I thought, there was a flush of blood seeping through it so it looked recent." Megumi agreed. "Why are you asking?"

Kaoru's stomach bottomed out as Megumi confirmed her fears, if in a small part. 'Calm down, Kaoru. It might not be him. It might just be another run-of-the-mill sociopath after you again. Maybe one that's unique to this dimension.'

"There's something oddly familiar about that thief and I'm going to go after him." Kaoru told her. "Please go home and tell everyone that I'll be late… ouch!"

Megumi tucked her fan back into her sleeve as Kaoru rubbed the smarting spot in her head. "Serves you right, getting into trouble already! Didn't you learn anything in Izu?"

"Yes, I did." Kaoru said quietly. "That I need to keep a closer eye on all of you. Especially when men who walk like assassins try to rob you."

"Pardon?" Megumi blinked and then gasped as the weight of Kaoru's words sunk into her mind. "You don't think that…" her hands shook as she covered her mouth with them.

Kaoru shook her head and patted Megumi reassuringly on the shoulder. "Nothing like that." she consoled her.

She had no idea what Megumi thought an assassin would want with her, but she did know that she couldn't suspect the same thing that Kaoru did.

'I went to a lot of trouble to keep that bloody letter from them. I know Aoshi expects Kenshin to do something, but Megumi shouldn't have anything to do with this.'

Or had she just been convenient?

'…Convenient for what though?' she wondered. 'If Kenshin really is here for his 'tendou' then I can't send Megumi home alone.'

"Look, Meg-chan, let's go home and…"

A shadow crossed the mouth of the alley. Kaoru went for her bokken, but relaxed as she took in Saitou's familiar, lanky form.

"Is there a problem here ladies?" he looked from one to the other. "Ah, Kamiya-san, Takani-san. Good afternoon."

"Saitou, could you please escort Megumi back to the dojo?" Kaoru asked urgently.

The ex-Shinsengumi soldier cocked his head at her. "In trouble again, are we?" he offered Megumi his arm. "I'll take you out of the cross-fire then."

Megumi hesitantly took Saitou's arm, with a look at Kaoru that promised retribution later. Saitou led her away, but stopped momentarily to turn back to Kaoru.

"Tokio has asked me to invite you to supper at our house tomorrow night, please try and survive long enough to make it there?" he asked wryly. "By the way, it's good to see you up and around again."

Kaoru smiled and nodded. "It's good to be up again."

She wasted no more time after that. As Saitou had Megumi in safe custody, she threw open her ki-sense in search for the same ki she'd sensed from the would-be thief before.

Her blood ran old as she found it.

It was directly above her.

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End chapter one of the **Kyoto Arc**

Seiyuu; *wipes off sweat* Wow! Finally, it's done!!!


	2. Chapter II : Grasping at Shadows

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Ronin Kaoru; Kyoto Arc

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Chapter Two; Grasping at Shadows

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He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare,  
and he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.   
**Ralph Waldo Emerson**

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AU- single reviews only, people! That was a lovely, heartfelt review Tinsel, but **_damn _**I got it the _first _time, honey! FF.Net must have had a hiccup when processing it! 

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__

Tendou.

The word fairly hummed in the air between them.

Kaoru bowed slightly, never removing her eyes from her opponent, yet her bokken remained in her belt.

He returned the bow, likewise keeping her within his sight. The katana and wakizashi at his side remained under his haori.

"We meet again, Kamiya." he knocked the kasa off his hand with one bracer-clad arm. It fell to the cobblestones behind him taking the black wig he'd worn before with it. Kaoru's eyes remained stubbornly fixed to the bandage on his face. It was as Megumi had said. There was a pink flush of blood seeping through the absorbent fabric; only it wasn't at the right angle. It started under the corner of his eye and ended near the lobe of his ear.

His scar was now cross-shaped.

A cloth appeared from the chest of his gi. He spoke as he used it to wipe the yellow stain from his pale cheeks and hands. "My wife neglected to introduce us when last we met… although I doubt we need such formalities between us. Tomoe told me much about you, I imagine she also told you something of me."

"She did." Kaoru allowed. "I also know of you by reputation."

As he tucked the cloth away, he did something strange; he smiled at her. Amber eyes glimmered at her through the curtain of his bright red hair, but there was no malice in them. He produced no killing-ki at all.

"As I you, Raiden no Onna."

Kaoru scowled. "I hate that name."

"A coincidence, I hate the name Battousai." he observed. "We are very alike, you and I."

Kaoru's eyes narrowed; where was he going with this? And what was with the sudden change in his manner?

"You could say that," she agreed cautiously.

He nodded. "In fact we are very similar… we both have lost someone precious to us. For Tomoe's sake, I wish you to know that I bear no grudge."

NANI?

"Y-you're not after revenge?" she squeaked. "Then what…"

"What was I doing when I was pretending to rob your friend? I wished to attract your attention and get you alone." He tossed back the side of his haori covering his swords. "Prepare yourself."

"Nani!?" this time she said it out loud. "You just said…"

"I know what I said, so please do not take this the wrong way."

Silver fire erupted from the sheath at his hip; instinct was the only thing that kept Kaoru from being sliced in half.

The maneuver Kenshin employed on her was one of Hiko's preferred 'teaching moves' and when she'd stayed with him after her accident, which resulted in Kaori, she'd become very familiar with it. Her body could counter this in her sleep and Kenshin was no Seijuro Hiko.

The famous hitokiri was on his ass in a puddle of unidentifiable muck so fast that the human eye could barely trace the movement.

Kaoru blinked… that hadn't been what she'd expected…

A startled smile edged onto his mouth. "I thought so." was all he said as he picked himself up and brushed off the street filth from his clothing. Then he was upon her again.

This time neither of them let up.

To the observing eye, it seemed the laws of physics took a cigarette break for that fight. The two fighters moved so quickly that they became but blurs of color.

For the first time in a long time, Kaoru found herself pulling out all the stops. She stopped restricting her use of ki to the _tokkan inazuma. _She expanded into the _enkakusousa_. This technique allowed her to control the environment surrounding their fight within the bounds of her strength and concentration.

On Kenshin, she used the version of _enkakusousa _called _gyakufuu_. In plain words, she turned the winds that swirled in the narrow alley so that they were at her back and pushing _against _him. 

'I can't match his _shinsoku_, not without having trained in it as early as him. However I _can _slow him down so that he's vulnerable to my _denkousekka_!' She gave a vicious little smile that echoed on Kenshin's face.

He flickered out of sight, but Kaoru hadn't spent x-odd years as a spectator to her Kenshin's fights not to know what that meant.

She stepped left just in time for Kenshin's _Ryu Tsui Sen _to impact with the cobblestones where she'd been standing and send stones flying.

Kaoru deflected the ones that came her way with the enkakusousa and got ready to jump when she saw Kenshin switch his grip on the sheathed blade in order to execute a _Ryu Son Sen_.

__

Hold it… he'd used his trademark attack on her with his sword _sheathed_?

Kaoru evaded both strikes of the _Ryu Son Sen_, both sword and sheath, and vaulted onto a fire escape to buy herself a little breathing space.

'Unless I saw wrong, Kenshin just used his _Ryu Tsui Sen _with the sword sheathed. That would definitely not have killed me, maybe bruised me up a little but I'd have survived it. What the hell is going on here? Did I misunderstand the meaning of 'Tendou'?'

She leapt off the rail just in time to miss being sliced in half; the rail wasn't so lucky however.

This time, she was watching him as he attacked… was that a bit of hesitation she saw? Was he ever so slightly slow in that strike because of the _gyakufuu _or because he was intentionally trying to keep from inflicting damage on her?

'One way to find out.' She reasoned and stopped using the _gyakufuu_.

There was no change in Kenshin's speed, if anything he seemed to be holding back even more now.

Kaoru scowled. 'He's going _easy _on me!' she realized with a burst of adrenaline. She kicked the gyakufuu back into full gear and used it to vanish behind him and kick him in the ass.

Kenshin pitched forward and tumbled to his feet. Gymnastics, it seemed, were his specialty as well. However, he found the tip of Kaoru's sword at his throat when he regained his stance.

"You win." he chuckled.

"Only because you held off." she shot back through gritted teeth. "Were you afraid you'd hurt a _girl_?"

He smiled sadly. "You have a temper," he told her. "And it's impairing your judgment, otherwise you'd know better than that."

"And you have an _ego_." She countered.

"You certainly aren't a romantic, like other women," he observed. "Anyone else might think I'd taken an interest in you."

"Three weeks after your wife's death? And in the woman who…" Kaoru started to say incredulously, but as she started to indicate herself as Tomoe's murderer Kenshin vanished from his kneeling position on the ground and was suddenly pressing her up against the wall.

"_Never _say that again," he growled.

Abruptly he released her and picked his kasa up off the ground. "Sayonara, Kaoru. We'll meet again soon." he said as he tucked his ponytail back under the black wig.

"Now wait!" She started to ask him why he'd left the 'Tendou' not if he wasn't out to kill her, but then his last comment caught up with her. "Did you just call me 'Kaoru'?"

He grinned. "So I did." and ducked around a corner a vanished into the market day crowd.

Kaoru didn't follow him. She knew she wouldn't find him.

"_Now _he starts using my first name." she grumped.

***

Kaoru stepped inside the dojo gates with the sun sinking into the horizon behind her in a blazing glory. 

Megumi and Enishi were standing side by side in front of the door awaiting her.

Neither looked happy with her.

She stopped in her tracks just a little ways into the courtyard then swallowed and waved nervously. "Um, hi?" they didn't look any happier. "Ah… I didn't do it!"

"Oh but you _did_, Kao-san." Megumi said with saccharine sweetness. "Not three weeks after we get home and you're already getting in trouble."

"Now, that wasn't what it looked like." Kaoru pleaded.

"Then what was it?" Enishi asked coolly. 

She winced, Megumi she could handle, but Enishi wouldn't let himself be placated so easily. Dealing with bother of them at once was just impossible!

Then something occurred to her. She glanced at Enishi. "You weren't even there, how do you know…" she scowled as something occurred to her. "You followed me _didn't _you!?"

Enishi lost his bluster as he realized his blunder. A blush covered his cheeks. "_Um_…" he suddenly found pushing the tips of his index fingers together _very _interesting. "Well, I was worried when you ran out of here and…"

Megumi shot a disgusted look at him. "That's not the point!!!" she hissed and glared back at Kaoru. "_The point is _that Kao-san went out and challenged _Battousai the Hitokiri_ after three weeks of convalesce!!!"

"I didn't challenge him!" Kaoru cried defensively. "_He _challenged _me_! Or… uh… well actually he attacked me in the middle of civilized conversation…"

"That was how it looked to me…" Enishi volunteered, earning him a dirty look from Megumi.

"Whose side are you on anyway?" she demanded indignantly but shook her head as he opened his mouth to answer. "Never mind, I already know! Why do I put up with them?" she cried to the sky while tugging her hair.

Kaoru was about to make an insincere promise to stop fighting but the tension suddenly drained from Megumi's shoulders. She flicked her Kuchinashi fan open and fanned herself while a resigned smile eased across her lips. "I give up," she said while shaking her head. "You won, didn't you?"

Kaoru shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. He just suddenly quit fighting."

"Um… didn't you have you bokken at his throat?" Enishi asked.

"That's not winning, Enishi." Kaoru said absently, automatically slipping into 'sensei mode'. "You don't win a fight until your opponent loses his reason to hurt you."

'And in this case, I'm wondering if he actually had a reason to hurt Me.' she thought in the privacy of her own mind. 'I should tell the others about this, but… this feels private; like it's just between me and Kenshin.'

"Um… did anyone start supper?" she asked, to change the subject. She sniffed the air; she could smell cooking fish and the popcorn smell of nearly finished rice.

Megumi and Enishi exchanged glances. "I didn't," they said simultaneously. "Then who…"

Three faces blanched simultaneously. "Kaori!!!!"

Kaoru got to the kitchen first.

She skidded to a halt, practically leaving streaks in the veranda from her sandals. She gaped at the scene inside the kitchen; in fact she was fairly sure that her jaw had hit the ground.

"… Less salt, omaesan. You can always add more, but you cannot take it away." Kenshin deftly caught the salt Kaori had enthusiastically poured onto the fish in the palm of his hand before it could spoil them. 

"Wow, Himura-san! You're a good cook!" Kaori chirped. She noticed her mother then. "Konnichiwa, Kaa-chan! Himura-san stopped by and helped me start supper!"

"Uh… hello again, Himura." she said hesitantly.

He smiled beatifically at her and waved once, while dumping the salt he'd caught back into the jar from whence it came. "Hello, Kamiya. What took you so long? I was here fifteen minutes ago."

Kaoru shook her head with a strained smile. 'ARRGGHH!!!! What is with you!?' she wanted to say, but instead she knelt down beside the rice pot and used her sleeves to protect her hands as she moved it off the fire. "This smells done."

"So it does. No, no Kaori… the radish goes on _after _it's cooked." he glanced up as Enishi and Megumi caught up with Kaoru and displayed similar reactions as she had.

"Himura is joining us for supper." she said blandly. "Could you please set out an extra tray, Enishi?"

"Um… 'Kay. I didn't see you arrive, Kenshin," the Shinhondai murmured, slightly in shock.

"That's 'cause I caught him sneaking around in the back. I figured he ought to at least make himself useful!" Kaoru said cheerfully and gave Kenshin a playful elbow nudge and wink. "He was looking around Kaa-chan's room."

"Nani!" Kaoru turned hot red and burst to her feet. "What in the Kami's names did you think…"

"Just kidding!" Kaori giggled. "Mou, _somebody _had to break the tension here! He came in the front like a normal person, Enishi was just so busy being a worry-wart that he didn't notice, and Himura-san even said hello!"

Kaoru shot her daughter a disgruntled look, which Kaori returned with an angelic smile. "'Curtness' does not a lady become," she said primly.

The reprimand rolled right off Kaori's indefatigable back. "Looks like I'm in no danger, huh Kaa-chan?" she said, blinked up at her mother with soulful eyes.

"Neither of us are, aijou." she sighed with a smile and ruffled her daughter's hair.

"I never get tired of watching you two." Megumi commented, momentarily taking her attention off Kaoru. "Could I see you outside, Himura-san?" she asked the hitokiri politely.

"Indeed." he answered coolly.

Suddenly the old Himura was back. At some point when her back was turned, Kenshin had stiffened up and his eyes had gone dead.

Kaoru's mouth hung slightly open as they left and went into the back yard. Enishi waved Kaori away from the forgotten fish and picked up a paper fan to breath new life into dying embers under them.

"What was that?" Kaoru asked him. "One minute he was here all smiling and relaxed and the next minute…" she made an expressive gesture in the air.

"He was stiff like that when he got here, but he loosened up as I took utter advantage of him." Kaori mused from her exile out the kitchen door. "I think he's just shy."

An image of her Kenshin doing the 'goofy Rurouni' routine, knocking over vendor stalls and falling in puddles just to seem harmless, sprang violently into her mind. The man that would humiliate himself on purpose in public for no apparent reason could _never _have been shy.

"No, I don't think that's it." Kaoru murmured, waving a hand in the air in front of her as though dispelling the very idea from her mind.

"Actually, that's very true." Enishi commented.

"Nani? Battousai the Hitokiri? Shy?" Kaoru shook her head. "I just can't grasp that."

He shrugged in response. "Well, perhaps its because I'm related to him that I can see these things. If you think about it though, it makes sense. He spent his childhood on a mountain in Kami-forgotten nowhere with only Seijuro for company, and after that very few people could _know _about his very existence. To top it off, he's lived out in the sticks since the revolution; one doesn't exactly get out much in rural Japan."

Kaoru followed Enishi's logic easily even though it shocked her. 

'Come to think of it, Enishi is right.' She thought. 'If you spend a couple of years killing every stranger you happen to come across, even if it isn't an enjoyable experience, it certainly doesn't do very much to sharpen your social skills.'

Another thing occurred to her then. 'Then Kenshin I knew in my home timeline had spent ten years wandering around Japan, he'd had to have cured himself of that shyness _long _before I met him! _Kaoru-no-baka!_!' she chided herself. 'Kenshin _did _have a life before you met him, there's no reason think that _his _travels didn't change _him _as much as _yours _have _you_!'

… So this Kenshin was very different from her Kenshin. Well, it wasn't as if she hadn't known that would happen.

'But there's still so much I don't understand.' Kaoru stood and dusted herself off. "I'll go check on Seijuro and Kaneda, I haven't seen them since I got home. I'm wondering why they haven't noticed Himura is here?"

'He's still got that eerie silence to his emotion-ki.' Kaoru told herself. 'They might not have noticed him, I can still feel his life force and identify it but I'm way better at ken-ki than either of them.' she snorted softly. 'Hiko is about as psychically receptive as a rock and Kaneda isn't much better at his stage in training.'

"Actually, I think Hiko-oji went to buy new saké because Kaneda-nii watered it down…and, um, Kaneda's still unconscious." Kaori explained hurriedly. 

"Kaneda can't have been so st… silly." Kaoru corrected herself before she said something hurtful, yet still-- _messing with Hiko's saké_… that sort of behavior bordered on _suicidal_.

"He's lucky he's _alive_." Enishi grumbled. "By the way, we need to get new shingles for the roof; Kaneda used his head to poke a hole in it with a little help from Seijuro."

Kaoru turned an amused smile at Enishi. "Are you worried about Kaneda? I thought you didn't like one another?"

"I do not! I am not!" Enishi cried, scandalized. "I'm angry about the hole in the roof! At this rate we'll have to replace it… it can't take many more patches!" 

Mother and daughter smiled at him knowingly.

"Sure." Kaoru chuckled.

"We believe you." Kaori promised sincerely, without meaning a worn of it.

"I wouldn't waste a second of worry on that pervert!" he insisted.

Laughter was his only answer.

***

"Is that normal behavior?" Kenshin asked Megumi as the sounds of Kaoru and Kaori teasing Enishi reached his sensitive ears. Mentally, he smiled. This was the sort of thing he'd expected to find in Tokyo, thanks to Enishi's wonderfully descriptive letters about the day-to-day life in the Kamiya Dojo.

"Sadly." Megumi sighed as she produced a blue silk fan from her sleeve and fanned herself… he took it as a nervous habit; a lesser person wouldn't have picked up on it, not with her attitude, but whenever she was alone with any man Megumi radiated an edgy tension that bordered on outright fear.

Kenshin knew the source of this anxiety, of course. Among other things, Enishi had commented briefly on the rescue of a certain lady doctor from a local would-be drug merchant. Admittedly, most of the letters where Megumi (or 'Megitsune') was mentioned were rants about her inappropriate behavior around Kaoru (in whom Enishi had an interest of his own). Yet Kenshin had gather from bits and pieces that she'd suffered at this drug dealer's hands.

Not for the first time, he cursed his inability to relax around unfamiliar faces. While he was far from shy, he had never exactly recovered himself entirely from the emotional distance he had once been forced to maintain as an assassin for the Ishin shishi. He'd done it for so long that now it was more habit than anything else, but it certainly did little to help people ease up around him.

'She seems to be recovering though.' He thought. He caught a glint of steel along the edges of the fan blades; the fan was a weapon. 'That's probably Kamiya's doing, she seems to have that touch. I wonder what this woman has to say to me?'

Luckily, she got right to the point. He was rapidly learning that Takani Megumi was a straightforward type of female and didn't seem overly deterred from her goal by the stony silence he emitted. "I want to know why you're here."

He didn't speak right away and when he did. "That is between Kamiya and I."

"You attacked her out of the blue today, you can't be here out of the goodness of your heart. Not after Iz…" she wasn't allowed to finish the sentence. Kenshin's eyes blazed as she started to finish the word.

"I'm warning you once, Takani-san. Make no mention of Izu to me. _Ever_." He turned back towards the house. "None of you understand what happened there, not even Kamiya does. The reasons why I'm here now don't concern you."

"I can't let you endanger Kao-san's life!" Megumi protested. "_None _of us will!"

"I'm not the one endangering her life." Kenshin told her. 

'I'm here to find out who is.' he finished silently. 'I promised Tomoe that I would.'

********

End Chapter 2

********

Seiyuu;

****

Gyakufuu - Adverse wind

****

Hiraishin - Lightning Rod

****

Shinsoku - God Like Speed

****

Denkousekka - Lightning Speed (slightly slower than the Shinsoku)

****

Enkakusousa - remote control || remote operation

****

Omaesan - you || my dear || hey


	3. Chapter III : Burn Baby Burn

****

Ronin Kaoru; Kyoto Arc

***********

Chapter Three; Burn Baby Burn

***********

When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.   
-- **Mark Twain**

***********

AU- *wrestles self out of coffin*

*Gasps for air*

I'm Alive!!! They buried me alive!

By that, I mean I have just escaped my relatives. Almost. It'll be a while before they find me again. Christmas vacation shouldn't resemble evading capture by enemy forces.

***********

Michael Creighton narrowly escaped with his life.

He ducked into a handy service passage concealed in the immaculate wooden panels gracing the corridors of his Aunt's posh western style mansion. Not a moment too soon, either. A few seconds later a decidedly tiny and frail looking woman who appeared to be pushing 180 stormed by.

Michael held his breath and prayed to every god he could think of hat his Great-great Aunt would, in her temper, forget the secret passages riddling her domain.

The thick carpet underfoot could not completely absorb the sound of her fragile damask satin slipper stomping against the ground and her deep, rich voice made the chandeliers shudder as she bellowed at the top of her prehistoric lungs.

"Michael, you will not avoid me _this _time! We're _going _to discuss this if it _kills _someone and I guarantee the casualty will _not _be _me_!" She snarled in a tone that could, and on occasion had, scared hardened criminals out of their bluster.

'Please don't find me' he prayed. 'I'm not here! Ignore me!'

Perhaps his mental emanations worked for Hurricane Great-great Aunt Jebediah stormed on down the hall spewing death threats all the while. Michael didn't dare let his breath out until she was gone.

Sometimes he really hated being the sole heir to an entire Lordship. Especially now that he was old enough to consider marriage. Great-great Aunt Jebediah wouldn't be happy until she saw him settled down with a girl of her choosing and happily producing as many heirs to the Creighton name as physically possible.

'I'd rather be a Kenshi' he thought sulkily. 'At least when I'm on the business end of a sword, I know where I stand. Sometimes I wish that my life could change.'

He slipped out of the service stair and fled in the direction opposite that which Aunt Jebediah was searching in. Luckily his room was in that direction and if he was lucky he could get to his chambers, change into his 'work clothes', grab Conover and make a hasty exit; stage right.

Little did he know that his path was already secured. He needn't have worried about little things like obstacles, especially not when certain beings had selected him as their personal tool.

Aiden remained just beyond the physical plane that Michael inhabited, technically he occupied space in that plane but he was neither visible nor tangible. He could however exert influence on that plane; influence that he now employed to keep the nosy relative of his Catalyst occupied elsewhere.

It galled him no end that he would have to restrict his plans to the physical limitations of a plane-bound. However it was unavoidable, even he was subject to the ebb and flow of the time-line's possibilities.

When the possibility spectrum was expanded and there were many possibilities available in the Time-line then he could enter and interact with that Time-line's course of history, but when the possibility spectrum contracted and very few possibilities existed then he courted a paradox just by nearing the Line. He needed a human who existed within the spectrum to represent his interests when he, himself, could not.

For a brief moment, Aiden had considered ignoring the rules and willfully bringing on that dreaded paradox in order to retrieve his rightful position as the center of Raven's life but common sense quickly won out. While it was well within his abilities to weather the psychic storms and spatial warps brought on by paradox he knew that very few shared that ability. A paradox could potentially wipe out this timeline and every Line resembling it, causing a chain reaction that could destroy the entire Flux.

However he was not so much concerned with the loss of the Flux as he was with Raven's own ability to survive. There would be no point in destroying the woman he sought to regain, he told himself but a deep, secret part of him screamed in agony at merely contemplating the idea of hurting her, intentionally or otherwise.

He'd play this game her way.

***

__

Crash.

Shards of pottery and drops of tea sprayed the near vicinity with almost benign shrapnel. Kaoru cursed vilely as she glared at the mess at her feet.

Kaori, who had been witness to this accident hopped to her feet and went for a rag to clean up with, leaving her supremely annoyed mother to pick up tea cup bits off the tatami.

"Damn me and my butterfingers." She muttered coarsely.

Her daughter reappeared with the rag and made short work of the displaced tea before it stained the floor mats. After a few minutes of work all the evidence that remained of the accident were the collection of ceramic shards in Kaoru's hand, a damp rag, and a slightly shiny spot on the tatami.

"What brought that on, Kaa-chan?" The ten-year-old asked as she took the sharp fragments from Kaoru and wrapped them in the rag she held. "You just went stiff all of a sudden, and you should have seen the look on your face."

Kaoru attempted to laugh it off. "Jumpy nerves, I suppose, someone just walked over my grave."

Kaori did not look impressed. "Really. From the looks of it, they drove a _caravan _over it." She pivoted on her heel and went for the waste bin out back. "I'll get you another teacup, Kaa-chan!" She called over her shoulder.

"Arigotou!" Kaoru called back and knelt back down beside the calligraphy set that she had been utilizing to instill a modicum of proper handwriting in her daughter.

She examined Kaori's latest attempt critically. She had set her child to copying down some of the scrolls where her father had set down the basics of Kamiya Kasshin.

Kaori's calligraphy was still somewhat crude and unpracticed, but Kaoru detected a natural grace the letters and a bold stroke that characterized her hand. Kaoru chuckled in pride as she gave herself a mental pat on the back for teaching Kaori so well.

'Getting egotistical in our old age, aren't we, o-baba?' Kaoru thought to herself as she daughter herself. 'This is Kaori's achievement, not yours. You just set her feet on the right path, it was up to her to walk it.'

Besides, her spelling still stunk to nirvana.

Kaoru smiled indulgently and set the paper down. She sprinkled the ink with fine sand to speed its drying process. Spelling could wait until another day.

"I've got your tea, Kaa-chan, and Megumi-san made sakura-mochi too! We ran out of oolong tea so I made uji tea instead." Kaori swept in with a tea tray balanced on slender fingertips. There were two cups of tea on the tray, but Kaori already had a fresh cup already in the room... perhaps Megumi would be joining them.

Kaoru paused momentarily to admire her child; Kaoru was in her habitual white gi and pale yellow hakama. Today she had her hair bound up in little Chinese buns and pigtails with yellow ribbons tied on the buns on either side of her head. The hairstyle suited her.

A flicker of movement in the hall beyond Kaori alerted Kaoru to Shinnosuke's presence. She smiled past Kaori at him. "Care to join us, Shin-chan?" She offered, although she strongly suspected that Kaori had already extended the invitation. She and Shinnosuke were partners in crime these days and were rarely found when one was not within the near vicinity of the other.

Saitou's progeny stepped sheepishly into the room with them and bowed. "Konbanwa, Kamiya-sama. I was helping with the chores today. I would be honored to remain withy you for a short time."

Kaoru nodded serenely and he dropped to a lotus beside Kaori. The boy had impeccable manners, she had to give him that, but she also suspected that Saitou expected his children to be perfectly mannered at all times. Shinnosuke was certainly that.

He smiled when he did his requisite chores, he said thank you when Enishi reprimanded him for a fault in his footwork, he made small talk while he held Yahiko still for Kaori to get a clear shot at him; in short that mask never wavered. Saitou definitely passed on his strongest traits.

Shinnosuke however, was different from his father or perhaps represented a younger, more carefree Saitou (a concept that honestly scared Kaoru). He didn't have the iron edge that Saitou had or the man's tendencies to walk up to his problems and slice his way through them; Shinnosuke was sneakier than that. He was more likely to smile that infuriating smile and deal out 'please's and 'thank-you's until somebody snapped.

There was very little Kaoru knew about Shinnosuke, but then he didn't exactly invite one to be intimate. He was kind and jovial, but something in his manner kept everyone at arm length. Especially when he opened those eyes of his. He had beautiful eyes, all jewel-like topaz and citrine, however there was an expression permanently etched into them that made people step back. There was a reason he kept his eyes shut.

Kaoru knew that Shinnosuke had the potential to become a very dangerous man one-day, it was inevitable. The cub of a wolf is still a wolf. She could only hope that her teachings would help shape that person he would be.

Still, at the moment he was a basic of the basics kenjutsu apprentice who had a tendency to walk into walls and run off at the mouth about western culture.

Kaori served him a cup of tea, which he savored as though it were a fine wine. "Uji tea." He murmured. "My mother rarely serves it at home." He took another sip. "A loss to our household."

"It's good isn't it?" Kaori beamed; she'd made the tea. The beverage was the one thing she could make in the kitchen and not ruin.

"Very good." Shinnosuke assured her. "Did you know that in Britain they put milk and sugar in their tea? They also drink it in tiny little cups with little handles on the sides."

"Milk?" Kaori made a face. "What's wrong with them? Milk is for babies and sugar would ruin the tea."

Shinnosuke shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea, my studies have not revealed to me the reason why they feel the need to spoil perfectly good tea. Tea should be drunk for the sake of its natural flavors, not clouded up by other tastes."

The two children nodded to one another in perfect accord, Kaoru mentally rolled her eyes. Perhaps it was her fault for raising Kaori in a monastery; the girl was far beyond other children of her own age group.

The conversation drifted onto other idiosyncrasies of foreigners and Kaoru was content merely to listen in, until Kenshin showed up that is.

Thanks to the eerie silence of his ki, Kaoru couldn't sense him until he was practically on top of her so he regularly snuck up on her. If they were alone, he teased her unmercifully, if they weren't then he went all stiff and corpselike on her until she dismissed whomever she was with so he would relax.

The ex-hitokiri had been something of a permanent fixture at the dojo these days and he was never far from her, she had only to turn her head to see a glimpse of red hair in the sunlight or a sardonic curve of his smile.

Try as she might, she could not fathom his reasons for tailing her everywhere she went. The old Kenshin had given her space... unless she was hurt, sick, or mildly depressed then she had a Kenshin shaped shadow attached to her ankles wherever she went.

When she confronted him over it he smiled that enigmatic smile and said something cryptic and confusing like "Why not?" Or "you're an intelligent woman, Kamiya. You know why."

She was starting to consider pulling her hair out or better yet, pulling _his _hair out.

"Hello, Kamiya. I trust I find you well?" Kenshin said expressionlessly.

Koru gave an undignified squeal as she registered his presence behind her. She was on her feet in a second and growling in his face the next. "How many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me?" She snarled at him.

"Until I stop." He replied blandly. "May I speak with you outside?"

She blinked, forgetting her anger she nodded. "Of course. Carry on without me, children."

"Kay, Kaa-chan." Kaori chirped. "Have fun!"

"Have a pleasant... chat." Shinnosuke added sweetly.

Kaoru momentarily considered smacking some manners into both children, but Kenshin took her by the elbow and steered her out of the room. She yelped something in protest but he didn't turn her loose until they were both in a secluded part of the garden. She felt her pulse become erratic.

How many times had she fantasized this situation? Hadn't she dreamed this a million times in her secret heart? Wasn't this exactly what she'd always wanted her Kenshin to do?

Her Kenshin.

There was romance in her girl-hood fantasies. Now Kenshin's hand was white knuckled on the hilt of his katana, not his sakabatou. Gripping his weapon was Kenshin's signal of stress, not nervousness.

"There is something we must discuss, Kamiya" he said slowly. Inch by inch he became more human and less starch. His fingers were still clenched on his blade though. "You felt the disturbance just now?"

Her eyes widened as she realized that he was referring to the chilling sensation that had caused her to destroy and teacup. "I did."

"I have never felt anything like that before, and I sensed nothing pleasant from the source." He said darkly. "Do you have any ideas?"

Kaoru pursed her lips; for once she was at a total and complete loss. Like him, she'd never felt anything like it before in either lifetime yet Kaori and Shinnosuke had seemed oblivious to it.

That triggered an idea, perhaps Kenshi who had developed their ken-ki only picked up the sensation. It could have happened in her first life with her oblivious to it. There were thousands of times when Kenshin had broken off in mid sentence or suddenly frozen in the middle of a chore and trouble had always come hard on the heels of that strange action.

Was it a premonition of sorts? An early warning system?

She had no clue.

"You're thinking of something." Kenshin intuited.

'Way to hit the nail on the freaking head', she thought uncharitably.

"It's foolish." Kaoru admitted reluctantly.

"Foolishness is better than nothing." He prompted. "Please, share this idea."

Kaoru automatically slipped her arms into he sleeves and sought a place to lean against one of the available garden trees. She considered how to word what she would say.

"A ... mentor of mine experienced similar things, I believe. I have no way of knowing. Kaori was with me when the anomaly occurred yet she didn't react, I could only assume she didn't feel it. It is possible that when I was with him, I had not developed my alternative senses acutely enough to register the sensation. Yet often times he would stiffen or drop things when there was nothing to alarm him." She said slowly.

"Understandable." Kenshin agreed neutrally.

"The only reason I'm considering this is...well; danger always arrived shortly after one of his episodes. I came to understand that something was warning him, perhaps this is something similar?"

A surprised smile lit Kenshin's face. "There is a viable theory. Perhaps if we contact your old mentor..."

"No!" Kaoru flushed at her outburst. "No" she repeated more calmly. "We can't do that; he's... unavailable."

Kenshin didn't need to be told twice, he didn't even press her for details. Anyone else would have at least given her a dubious look; Kenshin just discarded the idea and moved on.

That was something she really had to appreciate in a man.

"I believe I'll ask around and see if anyone else... uh... felt it." She murmured. Her arms were still in her sleeves and she found her gaze drawn to the ground. She felt useless.

Useless was a mere stone's throw from helpless.

Before she realized he'd closed the distance between them, She felt Kenshin's fingers under her chin as he drew her face up so she looked him directly in the eyes, directly into smoldering, molten amber eyes.

"You shouldn't look down." He murmured. "It makes you look like you are frail and you are not. You should hold your head up high, even when you are distressed. There is a natural pride in you and it deserves to be displayed, Kaoru."

She decided right then and there that she loved the way he said her first name.

His fingers gently stroked her jaw line as he spoke and Kaoru was suddenly aware of the slight difference in their heights; he was maybe an inch taller than her... perfect kissing distance and he was so very close...

He drew in his breath abruptly as her eyelids reflectively fluttered down to half lidded. She gasped as he turned her loose and backed up several steps, she saw he was breathing hard and his eyes had never burned brighter.

... yet so very far.

Shame burned bright in her cheeks. "G-gomen!" She stammered. "Gomen nasai!" Without another word she fled those blazing eyes.

He called out after her, but she ignored him.

'You lost control, Kamiya.' her conscience howled at her. 'Only for a second and see what you've done!'

Tears stung her eyes as she vaulted the courtyard wall. She'd done it all for him, and see what she'd done? Screwed it up all over again.

Kaoru the failure.

************

Seiyuu; Konnichiwa minna-san! Sorry for the delays in updates on Ronin Kaoru Kyoto arc, as some of my lovely reviewers have halfway guessed, I have finally replaced that wrecked car of mine.... With a hunk of junk Subaru that's almost half as old as I am. I've named him Musashi, after that samurai who never bathed. He is crude, yet effective. The other part of the problem is named Justin, no he's not my computer she's named Hotaru-chan (after a special friend of mine) No, Justin is my new beau and he's rather distracting as boyfriends go.

NOTICE!!! No one is allowed to steal Musashi or kill Justin in order to clear my way for writing. I am much too attached to either of them and would likely quit writing all together in order to track down the offender and kill them in a manner that would give even a Klingon nausea.

You may, however, take Justin hostage or something similar. Musashi is immune to all of you. 


	4. Chapter IV : The Fool Who Follows Her

**Ronin Kaoru; Kyoto Arc****  
  
**

***********  
  


Chapter Four; The Fool Who Follows Her

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I ran up the door, closed the stairs, 

said my pajamas, and put on my prayers. 

Turned off the bed, and hopped into the light, 

all because you kissed me good night

**- ???******

***********

AU- Hehehehehehe. You're going to hate me! You're going to hate me!

***********  
  


She should have known better than to run. He was miles faster than she and she was in no shape to use the _enkakusousa_ properly. He caught her almost immediately after she escaped the courtyard.  
  


An extremely undignified grunt escaped her when he shoved her against the whitewashed wall. She might have protested the rough treatment, or bashed his head into the pavement for daring to rough house her but the initial shove knocked the air out of her lungs making speech impossible.  
  


Which was, apparently the way Kenshin wanted it.   
  


He pinned her forearms with his hands and crushed Kaoru between the wall and his chest. As she fought for breath he pressed himself as close to her as he dared and hissed into her ear.  
  


"Never run from me again! I'll never harm you, but do not do that again ever!" his breath was hot against her throat and Kaoru decided her trouble breathing had less to do with her stunned lungs and more to do with his proximity and her hormones.

His lips brushed over her jugular followed by his tongue. She gasped as he pressed his ear against her pulse point and held her close. He seemed to take strength from its powerful rhythm and slowly relaxed against her. He reached up to her ponytail and tugged the cord binding it loose. Her hair fell down in a shimmering wave and she felt his hands leave her forearms and plunge into the thick tresses.

Abruptly he released her and melted into the shadows. Kaoru fell to her knees and drew in painful breath after painful breath. Slowly she managed to get herself in the proper position, with her head between her knees and evened out her breathing patterns.

There was very little energy in her body that wanted to have anything to do with moving her limbs so she leaned back against the wall and courted stained hakama as she sat in the dirt and waited for her head to clear.  
  


What in the hell had just happened?  
  


"You okay, chica?"  
  


Kaoru smiled in relief as she registered Raven's warmth, smooth, brandy wine voice. "I'm fine."  
  


Raven materialized in the dirt beside Kaoru. "I dunno, chica. I'd hate to be left in the lurch that way." she winked laviciously. "At least my boy _delivers_ what he promises." she sighed somewhat sadly. "I need some quality time with Aiden."

"Don't let me stop you." Kaoru said flippantly. "I'm just occupying space until Shishio starts his bit."  
  


"It won't be so long." Raven consoled her. "Then you can get back to being tough, benevolent, omnipotent Kamiya-sensei but you know..."  
  


"I know, Kenshin isn't going to go away." she rubbed her still smarting ribs. "Not after this afternoon, not without explaining to me exactly where we stand."  
  


"You might be standing a lot closer than you think." Raven pointed out. "From that little display just now I'd say he's harboring some pretty powerful emotions for you. Perhaps you two should decide what is between you before the stuff starts flying."  
  


"Maybe you're right at that." Kaoru shook her head. "You were going to do some prying and spying around Kyoto, has anything turned up?"  
  


Raven shook her head. "Nothing really surprising. Were I you, I'd start drilling so as to be in top shape for that fight."  
  
  


Kaoru groaned. "That's right!" she smacked herself in the forehead. "You're absolutely correct, I don't have time for this sort of thing."  
  


"I didn't mean for you to drop your social life completely." Raven huffed and tapped Kaoru in the temple. "There's a mental health thing involved as well. There's no point in even going to Kyoto if you are not at your _utmost peak_. You need to have a clear mind as well, you know that better than I do."  
  


Kaoru nodded. "I don't know how well I'll be able to do that with Ken... Himura around. He is somewhat... distracting."  
  


"He's one hell of an opponent, though." Raven pointed out.  
  


"He is at that." she agreed. Now if he'd just quit holding back, that'd be just peachy. She blinked as something occurred to her. "Did something happen this morning? I sensed something, it startled me so badly I dropped my tea."

Raven blinked. "You sensed the vista shift?" she asked incredulously.

"The what?" Kaoru echoed. "What's a vista shift?"

The latina rubbed the spot between her eyes. "Forget it, I shouldn't be surprised. You're my Catalyst; of course you're sensitive to those sorts of things. A vista shift occurs when a being such as myself actively begins to participate in the course of a Timeline's history."

Kaoru frowned. "What's a catalyst, you've never mentioned this to me before?"

"A Catalyst is a, forgive the term, tool that a Watcher uses to manipulate a TimeLine to the desired effect. The Catalyst must be a plane-bound, such as you. A Watcher can only have one Catalyst in a single Time-line at any given time. To make a Catalyst a Watcher must invest a certain amount of their physical matter in their Chosen." Raven made a sketchy gesture. "You know that I cannot always interact with this Timeline."

Kaoru nodded.

"Well, that is because I am not physically attached to this plane in the manner that you are. I can't come here when the possibility spectrum, which is the maximum amount of possible events that can occur at a particular point in time, is narrow. In layman's terms that means that there is no possibility that I may exist in this Time-line when that happens, I'm a particularly difficult being for a Time-line to support so the possibility spectrum must be particularly large for me to be here. It usually is, unless an important event for the Timeline is about to occur then the Spectrum narrows to prevent something from stopping it." Raven explained. "You are here because the Spectrum cannot shut you out and so you can influence this world even when I'm not with you."

"What if something happens that there are no possibilities for?" Kaoru pressed.

Raven shuddered. "Paradox." She said in a hushed voice. "That's what we spent so much time and effort preventing. You see; you are an anomaly since you originate from a different Time-line so you are sensitive to the changes in this one. You can also sense those changes since you are my Catalyst and carry a bit of myself with you. That bit of me enhances you physically to a small degree but also gives you the ability to be aware of the fluctuations of the Timeline around you."

Kaoru pondered that for a while. "I see." She said finally. "So that 'Vista Shift' you mentioned means that another 'Watcher' has made someone like me in this world. Will this affect us?"

"Only if that Being is out to effect our business, which they probably are." Raven said darkly. "It is the Official Policy of the Watcher's Guild that only one Watcher may be active in one Time-line at a given point. I was here first so they're poaching. If their intentions were innocuous then they would have cleared their mission with _me_ first."

"Could they have been behind that poisoning attempt a few months ago?" Kaoru asked. "We never did find out who did it."

"It's possible. I wouldn't have been aware of another Watcher in this area until they triggered a Vista Shift. It isn't beyond us to affect things on our own, although I wouldn't know of anyone -other than myself- who would work on such a miniscule scale as to poison one particular plane-bound and, frankly chica no offense, you just aren't important enough to this Time-Line to warrant that amount of effort."

"None taken." Kaoru said with a smile. "So what do we do?"

"_We_ do nothing." Raven decreed. "_I_ will hunt the _pendejo_ down and put the fear of God into him and _you_ will train to face Mum-ra."

"Shishio." Kaoru corrected.

Raven sighed. "Nevermind, chica. I will go now."

"Wait, Raven." Kaoru said quickly. "Kenshin sensed that 'Vista Shift' as well."

Raven sat up straight. "Come again? He could not have!"

"He did, he's the reason I didn't pass the feeling off as nerves.  You've explained how I sensed it, but how did _he_?"

Raven scowled. "I know not, but rest assured that _I will find out_." She promised grimly.

***  
  


Kenshin hissed quietly as the dark woman beside Kaoru vanished. So, that explained where she got that information of hers.  
  


He'd spotted Kaoru with the woman once before, although he hadn't overheard their conversation he had seen the dark woman, Raven apparently, walk through a wall to leave. He'd been scared enough that his hair should have turned white. 

Their conversation was enough to do that all on its own.

'… and now that stranger is on to me.' He thought. 'It won't take her long to find out what happened after Tomoe's death. I should leave now.'

He dropped down off the roof ledge he'd been using as cover and into the disused alley below. Kaoru was now on the opposite side of the building from him so he was in the clear… or so he thought.

Raven lounged against the wall opposite him with her arms and ankles casually crossed and a slightly predatory smile on her dark red lips. "Hello, little plane-bound." She purred. "Prying and spying are we? Didn't your Shisho teach you better than that?"

"My Shisho taught me not to get caught. What are you?" Kenshin said brusquely.

"What I am is none of your business." Raven countered smoothly. "At least until you started getting sloppy, now you are very much _my_ business. The question I should be asking is what or who are you?"

"Himura Kenshin." He replied stiffly with a guarded bow.

"… but which one?" she mused. "I could tell if you were someone's Catalyst so that only leaves one option. You're from another Time-line."

"You could be right, I'm not at liberty to say."

"Since you're taking all of this _awfully_ well, I can assume I'm correct." Raven intuited. "Am I?"

"Partially." He allowed.

"Are your intentions towards my Catalyst honorable?" Raven teased.

"As honorable as honorable can be. Someone has made a plot against her life known to me and made sure that I cannot help but dedicate my life to safeguarding hers." He nodded. "If you will excuse me, I have business elsewhere. Unless I am mistaken, Kamiya will need an opponent to help her prepare for the up coming battle in Kyoto that you two were discussing. Good day."

"Good day." She agreed. "You won't be interfering in that fight, will you?

Kenshin shook his head. "Regretfully I cannot, although I would if there were the slightest chance for me to do so, but Kamiya is a grown woman now and I cannot fight her battles for her. It would belittle her… and its time I realized that." The last was whispered to himself so quietly that even Raven's preternatural hearing could barely detect the sound.

She straightened. "Which timeline are you from?!" She demanded as a horrible notion occurred to her.

He chuckled nd bowed deeply. "Sessha has already told Raven-dono, sessha is not a liberty to say de gozaru yo."

************  
  


Seiyuu; How's that for a cliffhanger?  
  
  



	5. Chapter V : Ten Steps Back

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Ronin Kaoru; Kyoto Arc

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Chapter Five; Ten Steps Back

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The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. "Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" he asked.

"Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end; then stop." 

--**Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)**

***********

AU- Heyas, minna-san! I'm not dead… *dodges barrage of rotten vegetables* Wow, nice to know you're glad to see me. Well then, I'll just shut up and let you get to the stuff you came here for!

*winks* Glad to see you too!

***********

Himura Kenshin faded into the shadows as though he was one of them. Indeed, there were times when he felt like this was so.

He felt the Dark Woman's presence behind him vanish and solitude rush in to fill the void. He let out a breath that he'd forgotten he'd been holding.

Silence now dominated his world as he stole through the darkness, although he knew it would not remain that way. He was waiting for a visitation from his erstwhile patron and although his pride told him that he'd do well enough without the ghastly specter's aid he knew better than that.

Between one instant and the next the solitude was banished by the form of a tall man with pale hair bound up and back in a curly ponytail. His rough-spun prison yukata parted enough in the front to allow his legs freedom of movement, but he did not move his arms as a normal man might. He kept one thumb hooked into his belt and the other clasped a sheathed katana by the hilt, which he leaned against his shoulder.

"That was stupid, Battousai." Jin'eh reprimanded him without preamble. "Now the Watcher witch knows something she doesn't have to."

"Stuff your secrets where your mother used to wipe you." Kenshin replied pithily. "We are all here for the same reason; Kamiya."

"No, we are not." Jin'eh countered languidly. "You're here to set Kamiya up for the fall. She can't die without seeing her pretty world falling down around her ears."

Kenshin ignored him; the ghost didn't need to know that he had no intentions of doing any such thing.

"You _will _do this." The ghost told him nonchalantly as though reading his thoughts even though Kenshin knew that this ability was beyond even the powerful ghost. "I could send you back where I found you. Do you want to be back rotting in a slum over run by homeless scum wallowing in your own pitiful misery? Or do you want to go back to insane psychopath you were when Kamiya cut down your wife?" Jin'eh sneered as fury twisted the other man's normally impassive features.

Kenshin's wild strike passed harmlessly through Jin'eh. The kenshi loosed a guttural snarl at the non-corporeal being who tormented him, but Jin'eh merely yawned and patted and lax hand over his mouth.

He chortled and gazed deep into the blazing eyes of the rousted hitokiri.

"Never say that again!" Kenshin growled. "_Never_!"

Jin'eh smiled a nasty smile because he alone knew why Kenshin couldn't abide any mention of Kaoru's part in Tomoe's death. 

Whenever someone directly implicated the Kenshi woman in that murderous act, the ex-hitokiri came face to ugly mug with the seething half of himself that wanted nothing more to slaughter the person responsible for his wife's death.

As a one time Hitokiri himself, Jin'eh could understand the need to avenge the loss of something so precious as a loved one. He could even empathize with the other man as he was currently walking a razor edge himself in order gain that very same thing.

Of course it never occurred to him that in smashing Kaoru's death-grip on her ideals he would essentially destroy the part of her that attracted him so keenly.

Obsession knows no objectivity.

Still Jin'eh was largely responsible for the war going on in Kenshin's soul at this very moment yet he was also the reason that Kenshin could be within two feet of Kaoru and not rip her apart with his bare hands.

Not long ago, when Kenshin had witnessed Tomoe's foolhardy rush into Kaoru's battle with Raijuta he'd lost a fundamental part of his personality; some would refer to it as his conscience, yet others still would call it his heart. That night he'd lost his ability to forgive and with single-minded purpose he'd pursued Kaoru into the woods. The will to live burned strong within him for he had a purpose: to kill Kamiya Kaoru.

While Kaoru had been in a suitable fame of mind for Jin'eh's purposed she was still to far in tune with her mores. So Jin'eh had taken measures against that eventuality.

So, before Kenshin could push her off the cliff edge Jin'eh had appropriated him.

For in another realm far away the languished another Kenshin, this one a Rurouni. There was very little of him left by the time Jin'eh brought them face to face; his will to live, his strength, and his life were all but gone. All that remained to him was a few speech patterns and a greater purpose.

It was been child's play to meld the remains of the Rurouni into the Hitokiri, both of them welcomed the change for it presented the possibility of continued survival to the Hitokiri and a second chance with Kaoru for the Rurouni.

Neither of them had counted on becoming a whole new person, but then Jin'eh hadn't exactly gone out of his way to clue them in.

The result of this union was an entirely new man who didn't precisely fit into either of the lives or worlds he'd once occupied. Even though occasionally the two major components of his personality fought one another tooth and nail he was, for the most part, a sane, stable individual. 

Jin'eh was actually rather pleased with the results of his experiment in melding two human souls; he hadn't exactly expected either of them to survive the experience…

***

Kenshin regarded his odd companion uneasily as he laughed at nothing in particular; Jin'eh did that every now and then when his thoughts over took him. Perhaps it was a side effect of being dead, he supposed, or maybe it was just particular to him.

Kenshin was inclined to believe the latter.

A quiet voice in the back of his head reminded that the man wasn't to be trusted, especially with anything that involved Kaoru-dono. He shook his head almost imperceptibly to clear it of the lingering feelings left by the Rurouni. The Rurouni was the more dangerous of his two alter egos in its own subtle way; it simply desired everything to be honest and true. It would often aid him in battle by donating its vast experience in disarming and disabling opponents without actually harming them, but Kenshin knew better than to get too comfortable around it. Once or twice it had already decided that it was the entity that deserved control and had attacked Kenshin's consciousness. He'd won… barely.

The Hitokiri made no pretenses; it wanted control and it wanted it _now_. However the Rurouni had an abiding fear of the Hitokiri and kept it deeply buried. Still, whenever anyone nearby him made any mention of Tomoe's death the Hitokiri reacted violently and Kenshin was pressed to the limits of his willpower to keep it subdued. However it was only a matter of time before he broke and Kenshin knew it well.

Kenshin briefly contemplated leaving Jin'eh behind, he was well aware that Jin'eh would have no trouble finding him again yet he'd been raised (in both childhoods) to have better manners than that.

After a few more moments of random laughter and strange expressions, Jin'eh remembered he wasn't alone and got back to giving Kenshin his instructions.

"You're to keep contact with her, and keep her guard down. I don't want her suspicious. You're also to make sure she wins the match in Kyoto, she isn't ready by any stretch of the imagination." Jin'eh told him flippantly and vanished.

The abrupt leave-taking didn't bother Kenshin much, random behavior like that was pretty much par the course with Jin'eh. What mattered was that he didn't have to do anything that might jeopardize his position in Kaoru's esteem.

The strange woman was quickly becoming a point of interest with him. Before he met her he'd had a different opinion of her; the Hitokiri was her head on platter while the Rurouni idolized her with a reverence reserved for religious figures.

Neither of these concepts fit her at all.

She wasn't a cold-blooded murderer yet neither was she an innocent by any stretch of the imagination. She was a mature woman with ideals that she stuck to; that could make her seem naïve but Kenshin didn't find that to be so.

He wasn't sure what he made of her, but he would like the leisure to find out.

Sadly that was the one thing he didn't have.

***

Kaoru stayed in the alley for a little longer after Raven left, mostly to collect her composure and assimilate the information Raven had imparted to her. She was aware that it had probably been severely dummied-down for her and represented only a small fraction of the information involved in her reality but she was maxed out for the moment.

'I want to do nothing more than to go home, make dinner, and listen to Kaori and Yahiko squabble… maybe from the veranda with Hiko and a cup of tea.' she thought wistfully and then laughed quietly at herself. 'Such a strange notion of relaxing I have now…'

Her eyes narrowed as something occurred to her; she hadn't been seeing much of Hiko lately. She had vague recollections of seeing him at meals but never anytime else since… she squeezed her eyes shut; she hadn't seen him since the Izu Incident.

'Kaoru-no-baka!' she berated herself as she vaulted over the wall and began to systematically search the premises for a certain egomaniacal master of Hiten Mitsurugi.

A stranger wouldn't be able to tell, but like most egotists, Hiko was actually highly critical of himself. If he screwed up he didn't go easy on himself, even if the error was beyond his control: he was supposed to be perfect and perfect people never messed up.

Kaoru had only seen Hiko fall short of his own expectations only once… it hadn't been pretty.

She found him sitting on the veranda overlooking the Zen rock garden that Aoshi had installed in a fit of boredom during the winter. At first glance he looked all right, but Kaoru knew what to look for.

She didn't like what she saw.

Hiko looked as close to haggard as she'd ever seen him; there was a slight wrinkle in the line of his cape and his hair looked as though he'd only combed it once today. Faint lines were traced into the flesh around his eyes and mouth. Considering that Hiko normally looked better on a bad day than most of Japan looked on their best days this was bad.

"Ohayo." she said quietly from the doorway directly behind him, but he merely grunted in reply.

'Worse and worse.' she thought sadly and sat down next to him. "It wasn't you fault," she told him.

"You cut straight to the heart of the matter," Hiko said blandly. "As usual." he added.

"You couldn't have know that would happen." she said reasonably and placed a gentle hand on his bicep.

He was still for a moment and Kaoru allowed herself to believe that he would allow himself to be reasoned with, but then he jerked his arm from beneath her fingertips and stood.

"Hiko…" Kaoru started to say but her words were lost in the snap of his cape in the air as he stormed away.

She watched him go and shook her head; she hadn't really believed it would be so easy. However she had to believe that he would come around in his own time. No one could make Hiko do anything.

Kaoru leaned back against one of the roof supports and curled up so she could wrap her arms around her legs.

Slowly the stars began to glimmer to life, one by one, and the deepening shadows lay thick upon the ground. When the moon hung full and unusually bright in the sky, Kaoru allowed herself the luxury of thinking once more.

The first thing she did was sigh, and it was a deep sound that started at the base of her diaphragm, echoed through her lungs, picked up speed in her throat, and carried with it all the weight of her troubled soul and the unwelcome knowledge that she could not fix all the troubles around her.

Sometimes she had to let things take their own course.

'Is that was makes me so different from Kenshin?' she wondered. 'Kenshin -my Kenshin- never did know when to step back and let matters develop in their own time.'

She shrugged off the idea; it really didn't matter anymore because far away, in another world, in another time Kenshin had to fight his own battles.

She had spent so much time wishing for her own time to grow that she could not deny the same to him, wherever he was. All she could do was harbor a secret hope in the depths of her heart that he would find a way out of his self-imposed hell.

Kaoru snorted and shook her head at her own folly. 'It wasn't just Kenshin trying to put the weight of the world on his own shoulders, jou-chan.' she chided herself. 'You certainly suffered from an occasional bought of gallantry if I remember correctly. Still do if I'm not mistaken.'

She smiled as she thought about just how many undeliverable traits she'd carried over from her childhood; one of the being a certain rosy vision of her past.

Maybe it was time for her to accept that no matter what happened, she could never return to her original home; she couldn't magically sweep in and change everything; make it right. To do so would be abandoning this world that she'd sunk herself into.

'Is it time for me to say good-bye to everything I used to be?'

The gentle evening breeze carried a lone leaf into her hands. Kaoru caught it and held it up to her eyes. It was dry and brittle, rendered down to a dark brown by the harsh winter season.

Kaoru looked to the garden surrounding her; it was just now beginning to show green again. The world around her was shaking off winter's grip. She regarded the leaf in her hands, a remnant of the season gone before. The breeze began to pick up again around her and tossed her ponytail.

She smiled and looked at the leaf once more, thinking of the stories it held, of history unspoken… and let it go.

***

Kenshin watched Kaoru as she reclined on the veranda.

The significance of the leaf wasn't lost on him, even if he didn't know the precise meaning behind it. As soon as it was gone Kaoru let her head fall back against the roof support.

The moonlight reflected clearly off the moisture streaking down her cheeks.

*********

Seiyuu; Well, this took a bit longer than usual and I personally think the last bit was a bit forced but if I fart around any longer I'll never get this chapter out. I may go back and tidy it up again later but the Fic needs to get a move on! I think you all agree.


	6. Pacifier! New chapter soon!

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Original Ronin Kaoru Attacks

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Raiden no Onna- (Thunder Goddess) also 'Lady of the Thunder God' and literally 'Woman of Thunder and Lightning.'

Although more commonly rendered as 'Raiden', Kaoru earned this nickname through the lightning qualities of her ki and the names of her attacks. She hates the name because it has unsavory reminders to her of 'Battousai' and also, Raiden is a Male god and the name, when the 'no Onna' is dropped (as it usually is) it reinforces the male image that Kaoru is desperately trying to shake. It's also a play on Yahiko's nick-name for Kaoru 'Tanuki-no-Onna."

***

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Denkousekka - lightning speed

Kaoru's 'super speed' isn't as fast as the Hiten Mitsurugi's God-like speed and no where near Soujiro's _shukuchi_, but she is faster than most kids on the block. Unlike Kenshin and Soujiro who seem to disappear the eye can still register Kaoru as a black and blue blur.

***

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Inabikari - (flash of) lightning

This attack consists of Kaoru shielding her eyes and emitting a low level blast of ki that, while harmless, will temporarily blind an opponent. this isn't an attack she needs a bokken for and it does leave her blind herself while she shields her eyes so a fast opponent could conceivably get her then. So you can see that this isn't something she'd be likely to use against, oh say, Soujiro or Saitou.

***

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Hiraishin - lightning rod

Like _inabikari_, **Hiraishin **leaves Kaoru open for attack but unlike the blinding attack this is an offensive move and it much quicker. Kaoru points at her target with the tip of her bokken and channels Ki down its length. If she has time she can first use a much less powerful version something like the laser spot on a sniper rifle and then use that to target. The _Hiraishin_, depending on how much ki Kaoru puts into it can do anything from light a match to split a gatling gun in half.

***

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Arashi no makaze - Devil's tempest (rough translation)

this move is based loosely on Kenshin's _ryu son sen _(not one of his more favored attacks, he prefers one shots like the _Ryu sui sen_) Kaoru takes a two handed grip on the bokken and uses the lightning speed to land several sweeping blows. This is actually a rather crude attack and is really nothing more than standing in front of an opponent and beating on them with enough speed that they can't retaliate. This isn't one of Kaoru's favorite moves either although it does get the job done.

***

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Osamaru - to be at peace (to lessen (storm, terror, anger))

This isn't an attack _per se _but more like a mental exercise. All swordsmen use it to one degree or another, Kaoru's just tacked a name on it. When using the _osamaru_, Kaoru calms and centers herself which in effect heightens her perceptional skills. She is tensed and ready to evade attacks but she can also observe and analyze those attacks; thus finding ways around them. She also uses the _osamaru _out of battle to analyze and compare contrasting memories of her two worlds. Kaoru's visual recall while using the _Osamaru _is excellent.

***

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Hirameku hyakurai- flash of 100 thunderclaps

this is another one of those defensive moves that relies more heavily on ki. The effect of the _Hirameki hyakurai_ is a big flashy light show with deafening thunder. Don't ask me how she does it, I know its reaching a bit. Again, she's none too fond of this move but it is exceptional for getting an opponent's attention. It also gives Kaoru psychological advantage over her opponent if they're weak of mind and superstitious (she is known as the Thunder God after all, they just might start believing it)

***

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Tokkan inazuma- lighting flash attack (rough translation)

this attack is one that Kaoru uses more frequently and some could argue that it is her favorite skill. This is when Kaoru 'sheathes' her bodken in combination of her own ki and the air pressure of her attacks. With the tokkan inazuma she can use her bodken against a metal sword. Depending on how good her opponent is KAoru can use more or less of her ki to protect the bodken. Against common street punks she would use very very little and against , oh say, Saitou she would use much more. 

* Note on Kaoru's bokken*

Despite what Kaoru says about not being able to afford a real sword she does put a lot of money into her bokken. The one she has in the beginning is fire hardened oak which was hard to come by in Japan and could cost a pretty penny although not so much as a real sword. She carries a bokken partially out of sentimentality and also because the _tokkan inazuma _would take on a much more lethal form when used with the thin, sharp blade of a katana. Also, as a result it would become much more difficult to control. Later on she gets a bokken made of a wood found in the south pacific islands called **Palo fierro**. 'steel stick' it's lightweight and harder than steel, it's impossible to carve against the grain of the wood. It could go up against a katana even with out the _tokkan inazuma_!

***

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Patto rakurainiau - to be struck by a flash of lightning (literally)

In it's true form this is one of Kaoru's more flashy, yet still kick-ass, attacks. It can only be done outside for she uses the electrical aspect of her ki to trigger a weak lightning bolt from the sky. The lightning bolt (if she's lucky) hits the opponent and temporarily paralyzes them. Of course it is very hard to control and as a result Kaoru usually uses a somewhat bastardized version called the _jinkourai_.

****

Jinkourai- artifical lightning (literally)

She makes a lightning bolt of her own ki to acheive the same result. The second version is much more reliable than the first.

***

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Yoha inkaten - flash point aftermath

This attack is loosely based on the _Kuzu ryu sen_. Kaoru isn't nearly as fast as Kenshin so she wouldn't be able to pull off the _Kuzu Ryu sen _and hit the seven killing points all at once. Instead, she developed the _Yoha inkaten _which targets only four disabling points instead of seven killing points. The _yoha inkaten_ targets the shoulders and hips and, if done correctly, dislocates all four major ball joints rendering the opponent helpless until someone puts him back together; usually that someone is a prison physician.

The doctors in Tokyo get very familiar with the _Yohan inkaten_. It's her favorite move.

***

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Sanosuke's Tricks

***

*Note* Even though Sanosuke met Anji early on in the story and is a better fighter for it, his fighting style is still pretty simplistic. I expect any attacks he makes up would be pretty straight forward 'I hit you, you fall down' sort of things.

***

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Koenken - Tiger Swallow Fist 

This is basically Sanosuke getting up in someone's face, cramming his fist down their throat and gagging them. This is usually an attack with a specific goal in mind, like retrieving the bag of accelerant in Hyottoko's stomach but if Sano is getting really serious he fires a blast of ki down his opponent's throat.

This attack is also in another form of martial arts (I don't know which) but I imagine it takes a more noble form than Sano's version.

***

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Nugisuteru - to fling || to throw off (clothes) || to kick off (boots)

This is just when he tosses off his coat. a signal that he's **A. **pissed **B. **getting serious, or **C. **hot. Trust Sano to turn a strip show into a martial arts technique. (now where did I put those dollar bills...)

***

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Toragari - tiger hunt

Okay, I shamelessly stole this idea from Ranma 1/2, but it is _so _totally a move Sano would make up. He charges up his ki and makes a grand display of it. Hopefully this intimidates his opponent slightly... and then he runs away. If his opponent doesn't chase him, _cool_! He's out of danger but if they _do_, Sano just takes the fight to a place where he can use the terrain to his advantage.

It's just a sign of how sneaky he's gotten. Training with Anji for more than a week seems to have encouraged creative thinking on Sano's part.

***

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Kiru kokou - chop the tiger's den (jaws of death, etc.)

No, it doesn't make sense but what about Sano does?

In this attack, Sano sneaks up behind his opponent (hopefully while they're occupied with someone else) and hits them from behind with either a stick, his fist, or a combination of fist and large blast of focused or unfocused ki. (it depends on the opponent)

He doesn't like this attack so he usually reserves it for someone extremely powerful that he wants down and isn't feeling picky about how he'll get him there, like oh say Shishio.

***

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Harikonotora uchinuku (**keru**)- paper tiger punch (kick)

Here Sano plays dead and waits for his opponent (or anybody for that matter) to get close enough so that he can either punch or kick them.

Anyone else would call this 'playing possum'.

***

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Keien - keeping at a distance

Most people would call this 'staying back and watching your opponent for weaknesses. I can't think of anyone but Sano who would think of this as so novel an approach to a fight as to give it a name... but, hell if it makes him happy.

***

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Kaori's Attacks

***

*note* You probably won't recognize a lot of these attacks, even if I use them in the story since Kaori isn't one to announce her actions to an opponent. She usually keeps quiet during a fight barring snippy comments. Of course, if she's fighting someone who knows her then she might well announce one attack and in fact use another. Isn't she sneaky?

Although Kaori says she practices jujitsu, she doesn't actually. She is actually developing her own personalized style of martial arts that conceptualizes the concept of 'flow; neither forcing or resisting, much like water. Yet the style can also be bouncy and energetic like the girl developing it. The closest style I can think of to Kaori's style is Bruce Lee's free-form style of _Jeet Kune Do_. This site explains it best 

To be honest, Kaori hasn't developed that many techniques that work, she's only ten! But here are the ones she has made.

***

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Kakeochi- defeat and flight

This is your basic tactical retreat. Kaori isn't one to stick around for pointless battles, 'she who fights and runs away' and all that jazz.

An interesting side note is that Kaori will announce this technique (pun intended) out of battle. It's a personality quirk of hers and her way of saying 'good bye'. She'll also sometimes yell '_Kakeochi_!' while going _into _battle. She's just being silly.

***

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Kagerou - dragonfly

This is Kaori's pet name for her favorite stance; standing straight holding both arms extended at the sides with her heels together. It looks like a stiff and awkward stance, but Kaori makes it work by relaxing and letting her opponent come to her. Sometimes she'll hold this stance for twenty minutes at a time, waiting for her opponent to get bored and attack so she can use his style against him.

***

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Ikkyoryoutoku - killing two birds with one stone

This is another fairly straightforward technique that I'm sure any martial arts enthusiast is familiar with. This attack involves maneuvering two opponents into opposing sides and using their simultaneous attacks to eliminate each other.

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Ensou - swallow's nest 

This is a 'hiding in plain sight' technique. Kaori is good at vanishing in plain sight by adjusting her posture and becoming just another hassled kid on the street. She makes a lot of use of this technique when she's busy.

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Kakan - getting a bird's eye view  


This technique is, in a word, spying. More specifically, it's sitting in a tree above someone and eavesdropping on their conversation.

  


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Uchitomeru -to bring down (bird)

This is another time honored technique, well nerve pinch really. It's almost exactly like that Vulcan neck pinch thingy except Kaori doesn't have enough hand strength to pull it off so it never works.  


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hogochou - protected bird

Generic blocking stance using fore arms to block punches and kicks.  


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Sasurai - wandering (e.g. bird, exile, lifestyle)

This is Kaori's mental name for her mother's old lifestyle. She hasn't told anyone, but when she completes her training and comes of age she plans on living exactly the same way her mother did when she was growing up in the Monastery between winter visits.


End file.
